The Tales of Luke and Seras
by JeremyX
Summary: Here is a collection of four stories about a Borrower and a Bean who meet under amazing circumstances and change each other's lives forever. Done in series from Halloween until the end of Summer, these four stories are truly my first Borrower fanfics. The characters are my creations, so please do not steal them. Please read and review! Image courtesy of *LisaGreywood on deviantART.
1. Chapter 1: A Hallowed Evening Encounter

**A/N: This is a collection of four stories about my first ever Borrower stories. I first wrote them on deviantART for some contests, but I decided to publish them here as well! Besides, I'm quite proud of them!**

**The Borrowers belong to Mary Norton, but the characters here are mine! Please do not steal them!**

**Also, Yu-Gi-Oh! belongs to Kazuki Takahashi. You'll find out why in a moment.**

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A Hallowed Evening Encounter

"I gotta hurry up if I'm going to make it in time!" Luke said to himself as he ran through the forest. The boy was going to be late for his best friend Kyle's Halloween party, and he wanted to show off his new and fully detailed Dark Magician costume. It took him half a month to make the costume itself, plus an extra three days to make the staff. But at the end, he looked like Kazuki Takahashi himself made that suit. That's why he was cautious about running through the forest with his one-of-a-kind costume. He wrote down the methods he used to make it, but he knew that no one can ever perfectly remake a great costume like his.

As he dashed down the path he had cut for himself years ago, he heard a small shriek, which was unlike anything he'd ever heard before. He stopped suddenly, and looked around to see who had yelled. He was sure that he had heard a girl scream, but it was very quiet. That meant either she was very far away, or she was just naturally quiet. Just then, he heard an owl hoot that sounded very close, and he looked up to see a large peppered gray bird flying through the sky, holding something small in its talons. At first glance, he thought it was a mouse, but then he saw that the creature looked human. When he saw the thing struggling to get free, he threw his staff up at the horned owl, knocking the small being from its grasp. As they both fell he caught the staff with his left hand, and the right hand swooped his hat off his head and caught the small animal.

Unluckily for him, the owl would not let its prey fall so quickly, and swooped down to attack the boy. Luckily for him and his new rescue, he swung his staff so that the top of it collided with the owl, and it flew off, not injured but not interested in its prey anymore. Once Luke stopped panting, he took a peek inside his hat to see just what the owl had tried to make off with. What he saw was something he only imagined.

There was a teenage girl in his hat. She looked like a perfectly proportioned human, albeit she was only four and a half inches tall. Her blonde hair was done in a slim yet long braid, she had glistening emerald eyes, and she had on a long black dress with matching high heeled boots. She looked like she borrowed the clothes from a Halloween Barbie doll. The thought of borrowing made him realize who this girl was.

"You're a Borrower," he said breathlessly. She kept staring at him, though not out of fear as he thought. She looked like she was more amazed by his face than his size. Luke's jet black hair, now loosened by the removal of his hat, hung over his face cleanly, and his jaded green eyes, which matched his costume and were his true color, were fixed on his new find like the most valuable thing in the world.

"I am," she said. "Thank you for saving me. I thought I was going to be that owl's supper, or even his chicks' supper."

"Uh, you're welcome," he replied. "If I may ask, what were you doing out here?"

"I was out trick-or-treating with some friends," she replied, "and I got lost in this forest. When I finally got my bearings again, that owl hooted out at me, and then I screamed as he dive-bombed at me."

"Borrowers do trick-or treating?" Luke asked.

"Yeah," she nodded. "I'm actually wearing my costume now! What do you think?" She turned around inside his hat so that he could get a good look at the costume.

"That's a really good piece of work," he said. "Did you make that yourself?"

"Mm-hmm!" she nodded, smiling. "I could say the same thing with your costume as well! You look like you came straight out of the card!"

"You know about Yu-Gi-Oh?" I asked, startled.

"My friends borrowed some manga volumes," she said. "They were from a used bookshop and they paid for them secretly with human money."

"Er, would you like to come out of there?" Luke asked. "I can't imagine it being all that great in my hat."

"Oh, I almost forgot about that," she said, looking around. "Sure, but please be gentle, okay?"

Luke nodded, and slowly stuck his hand inside his hat. After a while, he felt the girl's tiny hands clasp onto his fingers, and she hauled herself into his palm. She tapped on his thumb to signal that she was ready, and he lifted her out of his hat, using his free hand to place his hat back on his head. He then stared at the impossibly small girl in his hand for a long time. After a minute or two of silence, Luke just had to get something off of his chest.

"Why aren't you scared of me?" he asked. "I thought Borrowers were scared to death of being seen."

"Most of us are," she shrugged, "but I just learn to live with the chance and accept it when it comes."

"Wow," he said. "You're not like I expected you to be. I'm Luke, by the way."

"My name's Seras," she said, shaking his index finger in a handshake-like manner. "Nice to meet you."

"Same here," he said. "Oh, do you know where you got here from? I could take you there before my Halloween party. I'm going to be late anyway, so why not be late when I'm helping someone?"

"Hold on," she said. "Why can't I come to this party?"

"You?" he gasped, shaken that she even suggested this.

"Yeah," she said. "My parents don't mind me being out late. In fact, I'm quite independent. I am 18 after all."

"You're 18?" Luke said. "You're lucky. I'm only 15. My parents are cool too, though. Well, at least my mom is."

"Well, this could be interesting," she said.

"But why would you want to go to a party where there will be many humans?" he asked. "Aren't you worried that someone will see you?"

"I don't have to be if I'm in your costume," she said. "Watch. Place me on your shoulder."

Reluctantly, Luke moved his hand with Seras on it to his left shoulder, and she jumped onto it, and he felt her jump into the front molding of his costume.

"How's this for a great idea?" she asked. "I stay here free from prying eyes, and you party to your heart's content!"

He couldn't help but smile. "Okay, let's give it a chance."

With that, he walked off down the road to Kyle's house, his heart feeling lighter than ever. Not only because of his new friend, but because they were doing something together even though they were vastly different. And even though he wouldn't admit it to her face, he thought from the moment he saw her that she was unbelievably cute.

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**A/N: I wrote this for Halloween last year (no duh), and someone I respect on dA actually drew a commission of these two! I'd write it here, but it won't work here for some crappy reason.  
**

**-JeremyX singing off!**


	2. Chapter 2: Luke's Silent Night

**A/N: This is the continuation/sequel to my first one, which I wrote at Christmas.**

**I don't own the Borrowers, just the OCs.**

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Luke's Silent Night

He never imagined that on that fateful Halloween night, he would not only beat a wild owl with just a stick, but meet a borrower, hang out with her at a Halloween party, and be able to see her again soon afterwards. After the party, Luke waved goodbye to his friends, thanked Kyle in particular for inviting Luke to his house, and walked back into the forest. He took several looks over his shoulder and knelt down to the ground, looking at Seras, who was still in the front portion of his costume.

"Man, that party was fun!" she laughed.

"Yeah," Luke grinned, "I guess it was."

"You saw that guy dink his head in the punch bowl, right?"

"Yeah, and he splashed it over everyone else." He looked at his Dark Magician costume and sighed. "Thank goodness it didn't get on my costume."

"It'll come out in the wash, won't it?"

"Well, yeah," he said, "but I like to keep things nice for a while."

A long silence passed before Luke spoke up again.

"So," he said, "I guess this is good night and goodbye, huh?"

"Aw, don't let it get you down, buddy," she smiled up at him. "I'm sure we'll meet up again somehow, someday." As she said this, she climbed out of his costume, jumped onto his bent knee, and jumped back onto the ground.

"Okay, that was really cool," Luke said.

"I thought you might say that," Seras chuckled. "Well, see you around." With that, she turned and dashed off into the forest. Luke watched her go for about a minute until she vanished through the bushes. Then he unfolded his body and walked back home, light with excitement over meeting a borrower, but sad that he was alone again.

The next two months passed by almost too quickly for Luke. His mother dragged him to church at five the next morning, much to his and his father's chagrin. Luckily, he had managed to make his candy stash last until Christmas. This was mostly due to the vast amounts of dessert leftovers from his aunt's thanksgiving feast, after which he would not eat for three days for fear of his stomach combusting.

Finally, on Christmas Eve, he lay awake in his bed pondering his Christmas wish he had made when he broke the wishbone on Thanksgiving.

"I wished that I could see Seras just one more time," he said aloud. "I hope I do more than anything."

He had doubts that it could ever happen, even if Santa could make her magically appear out of thin air. However, as he said those words, he heard a gentle tapping on his window.

"It's probably just a sparrow or a squirrel or something," he said, and turned over in his bed. But as the tapping persisted, he turned his head in annoyance to find out what was the cause of the noise. When he did turn around, his heart beat doubled instantly. There, standing on his window sill, was the girl he had prayed to see for two months.

"Seras?" he gasped, daring to believe what he saw before he saw her wave at him, smiling. "Seras!" His face lit up and he catapulted out of bed and ran to his window. After a few unsuccessful tries, he finally undid the lock and wrenched the window open, not caring that the cold was getting in. He lowered his hand to the sill, and Seras jumped into his palm without a trace of hesitation.

"What are you doing here?" he asked after his heart slowed down a bit, raising her to eye level.

"My parents let me move out after the holidays," she started, "and I found out where you lived and made my new home in the dogwood tree in your backyard."

"How did you do that?" he asked. "How long did it take you? What are you doing now?"

"Whoa, easy there bucko," she said, holding her hands up. "I move at night like most borrowers do, I helped myself to a few knickknacks from your neighbors, I've been here for a few weeks, and I'm not really doing much of anything but visiting a friend for Christmas."

"Can you show me your home?" he asked eagerly. "My parents are asleep and I can be as quiet as you."

"Okay," she smiled. "Just take it easy okay?"

He nodded, closing the window and sneaking down the hall and to the backyard, grabbing a winter coat and his outdoor slippers. As he stepped outside into the cold, he brought Seras close to his chest and wrapped his free hand around her for warmth. As they approached the dogwood tree, Seras pointed to a large hole in the top of the trunk.

"That's the place," she smiled. "It used to belong to a squirrel, but it left a long time ago. It's a lot bigger on the inside than on the outside."

"I'll bet," Luke nodded. "I'd have thought you'd have used the birdhouse or something."

"Oh please," she said. "I may use that for my food as well, but I'd never call a hole like that a home."

"I guess not," he shrugged. He then thought of something. "You know what, Seras?"

"What?"

"When I made a wish on my wishbone on Thanksgiving, I said I wished I'd get the chance to see you again."

"Really?" she laughed. "Well, I'm glad I was able to grant your wish!" She then looked up at him and gasped, blushing. "Oh, Luke, look up in the tree!"

When Luke turned his head around and up, he saw, hanging from a low branch, an all-too-familiar strand of white-berried greenery.

"Mistletoe," he gasped and turned back to face Seras, who saw that he was also blushing.

"Well, this is the season," she chuckled.

He could do nothing but stare as she leaned closer to him and pressed her lips against his bottom lip, causing his to flush an even deeper shade of red. He then smiled, and pressed his lips against the front of her face as well. After a minute of this strange kiss, the two separated and looked at each other deeply as new snow fell all around them.

"Merry Christmas, Seras," Luke smiled.

"Merry Christmas, Luke," she smiled back.

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**A/N: Well, isn't that just rot-your-teeth sweet? There's still more where those came from!  
**

**-JeremyX signing off!**


	3. Chapter 3: Summer Days

**A/N: Ironically, I wrote this just a week before I learned that school was this Monday.**

**The Borrowers bleong to Mary Norton, but the charterers are mine! Please do not steal them!**

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Summer Days

The last bell rang, and Luke flew from his chair and through the door before the sea of other students had the chance to mow him down. He barely made it out of the main hall before a hundred other young students bolted from the high school building faster than anyone would have expected. The moment that the doors opened, people had to get quite a few yards away just so they wouldn't be trampled by the energetic kids who were relieved that the first day of summer was here and that school was over for three whole months.

"At long, long last!" Luke cheered. "No more homework, no more assignments, no more school for 104 straight days!"

"So what are you going to do with your summer vacation, Luke?" his best friend, Kyle, asked him.

"What else should there be to do?" Luke laughed. "Play some video games, swim around in a pool, and just have all the fun I can jam-pack into what little time I have this summer!"

"Well, see you around, sophomore summer boy!" his other friend, Hank, laughed as they all parted ways and headed home.

"Have a great summer, guys!" Luke called over his shoulder as he boarded the school bus.

His friends lived close to the local high school, but Luke lived a quite few miles away. His mother was almost always busy, but she gave him enough money so that he could take the bus every day without anyone having to worry about driving him to school. His dad was a touchy subject, even after seven years had passed since that day. Even still, he wouldn't forget him.

"Speaking of things I would never forget," he said to himself, gazing out the window, "I'm sure to never forget this summer, that's for sure."

After a few more minutes of riding the bus, with frequent stops at the other bus stops, it came to a stop at the one nearest to his house. He, along with the last of the students, got off and headed in different directions. He headed straight home, making sure to lock himself inside, and went straight upstairs to his room. After looking left and right, making sure that no one was watching, he locked his door, opened his blue jacket's breast pocket, and reached his hand inside.

"It's all right now," he said. "There's no one here."

What he brought out of his pocket was a 4 inch tall teenage girl with blonde hair and blue eyes that Luke knew all too well. He brought his hand around and set it down on his desk, allowing her to jump off of his hand and onto the desk.

"Well, that was every bit as boring as I had imagined," she said, looking up at him while she sat down on his desk.

"Was that supposed to be sarcasm, Seras?" Luke asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"What do you think?" she asked, grinning out of the corner of her mouth.

This prompted a hearty laugh from the both of them.

Seras was a Borrower, and she had been living in Luke's backyard since last year's Christmas. They had first met on Halloween night when Luke had gone to a party, and they went together. She had surprised him as a present, and they had been hanging out together every day since then. The best time of that time between Christmas and the end of the school year was when Luke's sixteenth birthday came around on the first day of March, which was this year's first day of spring.

"Really, though," she said, "that was one of the most exhilarating moments I can remember having in a really long time."

"So what do you want to do first, summer buddy?" Luke asked, eager to do something fun.

"What else can you do on the first day of summer?" the Borrower asked. "Swim, sun, play around."

"Well, mom shouldn't be home for at least another two hours," Luke grinned, rubbing his chin, "so I don't see why not!" Luke brought his hand up to the desk, but Seras paused for a moment.

"Hey, hold on a minute," Seras said.

"What's wrong?" Luke asked.

"You always talk about your mom," she replied, "but what about your dad? I've never heard you say one thing about him since we first met on last year's Halloween."

"Was it really that long ago?" Luke asked himself, looking out his window. "It seems like it was such a short time back, but it was pretty long ago, wasn't it?"

"I guess so," Seras replied, "but you didn't answer me. Why don't you talk about your dad?"

Luke froze for a moment, and his eyebrows and his mouth twitched.

"Did I say something wrong?" Seras gulped.

"No, it's not you," Luke said shakily. "It's just… no one's asked me about my dad in a while."

"How come?" she raised her eyebrow.

"Most folks already know about what happened," he replied. "It was all over the news, after all."

"What happened?"

Luke's face darkened. "My dad had a rare and extreme anger disorder that was brought about by his old smoking habits before he met my mom. One day, he came home after he was fired from his job because of one of his outbursts and yelled at all of us really loud and angrily. My mom tried to calm him down, but he grabbed a kitchen knife and swung it at her. He even grabbed a metal bat and swung it at my head when I tried to save her. He nearly killed my mom and went to jail for twenty years for attempted first-degree murder. I've never seen or heard from him since, and that was more than seven years ago."

"Oh my gosh," Seras gasped. "That's got to be one of the saddest stories I've ever heard. I'm so sorry, Luke."

He looked at his friend, and smiled a bit. "Thanks for that, Seras."

"Hey, could you do something?" she asked, snapping her fingers.

"Sure, what is it?" Luke nodded.

"Lean down over here, I want to ask you something," she responded, motioning him to lean down to her level.

"Like this?" he asked, leaning his head down to his desk, unsure of what she wanted.

"Yeah," she smiled, "this is perfect."

"For what?" he asked, but then stopped when he felt something touch his cheek.

"This is what for," Seras said.

Luke looked on his desk mirror, and he could see that she was hugging his cheek. As he raised his head back up, he cupped his hands around Seras' body, bringing her closer to his face and leaning into her hug. He blushed quite a bit, but he didn't mind if she found out.

"Thanks for that, Seras," he sighed. "I needed that."

"Any time, friend," she smiled, breaking away from his cheek to stare into his large (to her) jaded eyes.

"So what do you say about that pool trip outside?" Luke grinned.

"Just give me a sec to change," she smiled.

Luke nodded, and set her down near a doll's wardrobe he had gotten for her birthday a few months ago. It wasn't too pink, which both of them loved, and he found her all the clothes that she could want from a clearance rack. He picked his trunks out form his dresser, changed into them when Seras was in her dressing room, and when he looked back, Seras was wearing her newest swimsuit that he got for her before summer began.

"You ready?" he asked, smiling.

"Last one in is a rotten egg!" Seras grinned.

"Then let's go!" he said, gently scooping her up from the desk and running out to the in-ground pool in their backyard.

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**A/N: Ah, I miss summer. This one I wrote for summer and for a special event we GT writers like to do every middle of July on dA caled "Hug a Giant day." You should look it up, it's got lots of great pics and fics!  
**

**JeremyX signing off!**


	4. Chapter 4: Back to School

**A/N: I finished writing this just last week, when I learned what day school was going to start for me.**

**I don't own the Borrowers, but I own these characters. Please do not steal.**

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Back to School

Luke was spread out on his bed, in a daze. It only seemed that yesterday was the first day of summer, and all too soon the most wonderful time of year for a kid was over. He knew it couldn't have been avoided, but that didn't mean he was going to like it. School was beginning again. It was just another fact of life. He didn't particularly enjoy it, but then again, no kid he knew did, except for his bookworm friend Joel. Luke felt that you could throw an entire library at him, and he'd be back begging for more books in no time at all.

"That guy seriously needs help," he said aloud to himself as he tried to get up from his bed. "No kid that be that much into learning and not have a mental problem."

"Maybe you should get checked out too," a voice rang out form his bedroom desk. "No one can be that mopey and not be medically depressed or something."

Luke looked up at his desk, and noticed Seras, his Borrower friend, looking at him piteously and holding her hands on her hips.

"I can't help being depressed, Seras," Luke groaned. "Summer's over! Where did it all go?"

"Oh, don't give me that," she sighed. "You and I both knew that it wasn't going to last forever."

"Well, yeah," Luke moaned, "but it still feels like it barely started and now it's over!"

"This isn't like you, you know," Seras said. "You've been one to complain about school, but not this much. Is there something else that's bothering you?"

Luke's eyes widened, but he shook his head. "No, there's nothing wrong. I'm just nervous about going back to school, that's all."

"Oh, there's something wrong," Seras grinned. "I know there is. I can see it on your face as plain as day."

"Oh, you're too good at this," Luke said, rolling around and sitting up on his bed.

"I always was," she grinned. "So what's really going on that's got you all bent out of shape for?"

"The thing is," he said, hanging his head a bit, "My mom told me that the system's moved me up a grade because I got good results on the standardized tests I took before summer began."

"Why do you make it sound like that's a bad thing?" she asked.

"It means that I'm going to be a freshman in college," he replied.

"And?" Seras raised an eyebrow, still not grasping the gravity of this situation.

"It means my mom is taking me and moving across town to be close to the community college," he said, almost shouting. "I'm leaving and you'll have to stay behind."

"What?" she gasped. "You're moving?"

"We have to," Luke sighed sadly. "My mom bought a house when Dad had a high-paying job, but we can't afford to pay for it and this one, so we're moving into the new one. It's got everything this one has, but it's really far away from here and close to the major colleges and campuses in the city, so it's better on mom's wallet."

"But why can't I come with you?" she asked. "I see what this means for you, but why not have me in any of this?"

"You'd rather be with your own kind, don't you?" Luke asked. "Besides, all friends have to move on with their own lives eventually, even ones such as ourselves."

Seras sighed in amusement mixed with annoyance. He had completely forgotten why she had even moved to the tree in his house's backyard in the first place. Ever since he saved her on Halloween, she had looked at him with a feeling of awe and wonder. Here he was, a being several times her size, and yet she felt more attracted to him than any male Borrower she had ever seen in her entire life. She could also tell that Luke felt the same way about her, and she was intent on making him admit it.

"Dude," she said, looking up at him, "you need to get a grip and open up your eyes."

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, looking down at her.

"I didn't move away from my family and my friends because I wanted to be closer to them later on," she replied. "I did it to get closer to you."

"Huh?" Luke raised an eyebrow, and also blushed a tiny bit.

"Listen to me," she said, taking a step forward. "I've had nothing but positive thoughts about you since the day we met, and I've grown quite a liking you ever since. I can tell you have taken a liking to me too, so don't try to deny it."

Luke gulped. "Okay, so what if I do like you?"

"You've everything most Borrowers believe a human could never be," she replied. "You may as well be a Borrower to me, because I don't care if you're human or Borrower. I like you, Luke. I like you a lot."

Luke's blush reddened further at what Seras said, and then after a few seconds, his slight frown turned into a full smile.

"I like you too, Seras," he nodded. "I've liked you since we first met, but I wasn't sure if you felt the same way about me so I said nothing until now."

"Well, now you know the truth," she smiled. "I like you."

"And I like you back," Luke smiled, and gently scooped his friend into his hand. He brought her to his face, and cradled her against his cheek, sighing contentedly. He could feel Seras' arms rubbing against his cheek, leaning into his hug.

"So you still want a campus partner?" she asked.

"You know full well I do," he smiled, breaking away from her to stare at her sitting in his hand. "And you're more than welcome to stay with me."

"Like I'd want to stay anywhere else," she giggled. "You're way too fun for me to stay away from for too long."

"I'm glad to know I'm such a hoot," he chuckled. "Maybe I'll take you to campus with me sometime."

"That'd be just like old times," she smiled. "I like that."

"You're way too adventurous for me to leave on your own for too long," he smiled.

"Sometimes that can be a good thing," she said. "If I wasn't we'd never have met in the first place."

"That's true," Luke smiled, cradling her against his chest. "I'm really glad I met you, Seras."

"So am I, Luke," Seras smiled, gripping his shirt tightly to herself. "So am I."

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**A/N: And that about wraps it up for Luke and Seras' stories for now! They aren't gone, but this is a good place to stop for now.**

**FYI, this was for the mid-August counterpart for Hug a Giant Day, Hug a Tiny Day.**

**They may make a comeback in another story, though. (wink, wink)**

**Have a great (hopefully) school season!**

**-JeremyX signing off!**


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